A judge today ordered the trial of the five men accused of the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in Delhi be held 'in-camera' for the suspects' own safety after chaotic courtroom scenes.

More than 150 people tried to cram into a courtroom meant to fit just 30 people for the first hearing of the men charged with the abduction, gang rape and murder of Jyoti Singh Pandey.

The 23-year-old physiotherapy student died in a Singapore hospital 13 days after being attacked as she made her way home from the cinema in New Delhi.

The brutal case has caused uproar in India, with mass demonstrations for women's rights, tougher rape laws and calls for the suspects in the case to be hanged.

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Heavy security: The suspects accused of gang rape and murder arrive at Saket District Court in New Delhi for a preliminary hearing

Extra measures: There was tight security outside the court where the men will appear after the case caused uproar across the country

Arrival: A police officer directs the van carrying the five suspects - named as Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur

The five suspects - named as Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur - were transferred from prison in police vans under heavy armed guard to Saket district court in New Delhi this morning.

There was a strong police presence with numerous officers stationed outside the court - poignantly located opposite the cinema where the victim watched a film with a friend the night of the attack.

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A sixth suspect, who is 17, will be tried separately in a youth court.

The case has dominated headlines around the world for the last week but a judge today ruled all hearings will be held in private with the media also excluded from proceedings.

The move came after a large gathering of media and members of the public packed out the courtroom, which can seat about 30, but had more than 150 people crammed in.

Serious charges: The five men are accused of the abduction, gang rape and murder of Jyoti after she was attacked on a bus as she made her way home from the cinema

Evidence: Prosecutors claim that DNA tests last week confirmed that the blood of the victim matched bloodstains found on the clothes of the accused

Restricted access: Media were prevented from getting close to the vans by heavily armed police officers

'It has become impossible for this
court to conduct proceedings in this case,' magistrate Namrita Aggarwal
said, ordering anyone not directly connected to the case to exit.

She
ruled all future hearing to also be held in private for the safety of
the accused. It is standard practice in India for rape cases to be held
in private.

Earlier,
an argument broke out in court when a lawyer offered to defend the men after members of the bar association in Saket district, where the case is being heard, vowed not to represent the accused.

Supreme Court lawyer Manohar Lal Sharma was shouted down by colleagues who say the accused do not deserve
representation, given the brutality of the crime.

'We are living in a modern society. We all are educated.
Every accused, including those in brutal offences like this, has the
legal right to represent his or her case to defend themselves,' Lal
Sharma said.

Man power: Extra officers appear to have been drafted in to boost security at the court as five men accused in the gang rape of a student that has shocked the world after for a pre-trial hearing

Leaving court: A Delhi police van transporting the five men accused in the Delhi gang rape back to prison after they were formally charged and remanded in custody today

Justice behind closed doors: A judge has ruled that the court proceedings involving the five accused will all be held in private

'I'm afraid they won't get justice, that's why I have
decided to appear for them in the court,' Sharma said, but added it was
up for the court to decide.

Two of the
accused, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta, moved an application on Saturday
requesting they be made 'approvers', or informers, against the other
accused, a public prosecutor in the case, Rajiv Mohan revealed.

Sharma
and Gupta, along with co-accused Mukesh Kumar, Ram Singh and Akshay
Thakur, have already been charged with murder, rape and abduction along
with other offences.

Prosecutor Mohan, who last week claimed DNA tests confirmed
that the blood of the victim matched bloodstains found on the clothes
of all the accused, said he was seeking the
death sentence given the 'heinous' crime.

'The five accused persons
deserve not less than the death penalty,' he said, echoing public
sentiment and calls from the victim's family.

Police have conducted extensive interrogations and say they have recorded confessions, even though the five have no lawyers.

Distraught: Badri Singh Pandey, father of the 23-year-old victim, who was gang raped on a bus in New Delhi, India, poses for a picture in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh

Treatment: The victim was taken to intensive care at a Singapore hospital but died of her injuries

Poignant: White lilies could be seen in the back of the ambulance as the body was transported through the city

The accused were remanded in custody and the next hearing of the case has been set for Thursday.

The trial is due to be held in a special fast-track court session, set
up last week after the attack on the woman and to help reduce a backlog of sex crime cases in Delhi.

But
some legal experts have warned that previous attempts to fast-track
justice in India in some cases led to imperfect convictions that were
later challenged.

The men, most of them from a slum neighbourhood, will be offered legal aid by the court before the trial can begin.

Legal
experts say their lack of representation could give grounds for appeal
should they be found guilty. Similar cases have resulted in acquittals
years after convictions.

Today's hearing comes as four Indian
policemen have been suspended over the handling of another suspected
rape and murder case after a woman's body was found near Delhi on
Saturday.

Protest: A man pictured performing an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar to protest against the recent gang rape in New Delhi

Respect for women: A shrine dedicated to the woman who died from horrific injuries after being gang-raped

It comes
after the father of Jyoti, a factory employee in the Delhi suburb of
Noida, said he wanted 'the world to know' his daughter Jyoti's name and
of her ordeal.

He
said: 'I am proud of her. Revealing her name will give courage to other
women who have survived these attacks,' said Mr Singh Pandey. 'They will
find strength from my daughter.'

The brutal attack has caused uproar in
India, with mass demonstrations for women's rights and calls for the
six suspects in the case to be hanged.

The distraught father made his comments in an interview with the Sunday People, given from his ancestral village of Billia in Uttar Pradesh, a state in the north of India, where the family has gone to grieve.

He said he had no desire to see the
faces of the men accused of the barbaric sexual attack on his child, he
wants just to see them punished and hanged.

Uproar: The rape and murder of a woman on a bus in Delhi in December 2012 sparked protests across the country with thousands of Indian women carrying placards calling for tougher rape laws

Fury: An Indian woman holds a placard during a march against violence towards women and the brutal rape and murder of a woman in Bangalore, India, on Friday

'Death to all six of them,' he said. 'These men are beasts.

'They should be made an example of and that society will not allow such things to happen.'

Miss
Singh Pandey was raped after she and a male friend, named as Awindra
Pandey, 28, were lured onto a bus as they travelled home from the
cinema, where they had been to see blockbuster Life Of Pi.

In
an interview with Hindi TV channel Zee News, Awindra Pandey said the
gang of six men aboard the bus - fitted with curtains and tinted windows
- had planned to trap them.

Once on the bus, he was attacked and Miss Singh Pandey was gang-raped by a group of allegedly drunk men, including the driver, who also violated her with an iron bar causing immense internal damage that lead to her death, he said.

The man, believed to be the only witness in the case, said he did his best to fight off the attackers.

'They beat us up, hit us with iron rod, snatched our clothes and belongings and they threw us off the bus on a deserted stretch.

'From where we boarded bus, they moved around for nearly two and a half hours. We were shouting, trying to make people hear us,' said the 28-year-old, who suffered a broken leg in the attack.

Indian TV station NDTV has shown footage understood to be the suspects charged in the gang-rape case

Public
interest: Indian citizens queue to enter the Saket district court in
New Delhi - where two of the five men accused of raping the woman yesterday begged to be allowed to turn witness for the prosecution

'But they switched off the lights. We
tried to resist them. Even my friend fought with them, she tried to
save me. She tried to dial police control room number 100, but the men
snatched the mobile.'

Miss
Singh Pandey died on December 29 in a specialist hospital in Singapore
after a 13-day struggle to survive injuries so grievous that her
intestines had to be removed.

She underwent three major surgeries - including one to remove her intestines - and suffered a cardiac arrest in India before being flown to Singapore for treatment.

Mr Singh Pandey told how his daughter, despite her ordeal, wanted to go on living. As she drifted in and out of consciousness in her hospital bed, she was able to communicate with her family through written notes.

'She had a feeding pipe in her mouth making it difficult for her to speak,' he said. 'But she did write on some paper that she wanted to live, she wanted to survive and stay with us.

'But it was fate that had the last say in the end.'

The horrifying crime has appalled India and brought simmering anger about widespread crime against women to the boil amid angry calls for safer streets, more sensitive policing and changed social attitudes.

Claims:
Awindra Pandey, the male friend with the woman when she was
subjected to the brutal gang-rape ordeal, spoke out in an interview on
Indian television